


Making Spirits Bright

by liroa15



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Christmas Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-09-17 06:02:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16969059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/liroa15/pseuds/liroa15
Summary: It's the holiday season. Will Jamie finally take the opportunity to tell Tyler how he feels?





	Making Spirits Bright

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sadieb798](https://archiveofourown.org/users/sadieb798/gifts).



The day after American Thanksgiving, Jamie shows up at the American Airlines Center early, as requested, only to find one of the PR interns waiting for him. “Oh good, you’re here,” she says and promptly herds him to one of the rooms they use to film the in-game spots. Segs and Raddy are already there.

“All right, so we’re filming some stuff for stoppages in play today,” the lady from PR explains. “We thought we’d do something holiday-themed.” She waves a hand and a couple more interns enter the room with plates of cookies and a whole bunch of other shit that Jamie has no clue about. 

“We thought that we’d have a cookie-decorating contest,” the PR lady explains. “The three of you competing against one another to create the best cookie, as voted by the fans. We’ve got gingerbread man and icing in several colours, including victory green,” she continues, wide smile pasted on her face. Jamie can tell that she’s anticipating one of them being an asshole. Jamie’d put money on himself, honestly.

“Do we get to eat the cookies?” Segs asks, eying one of the plates of cookies and smiling at the PR lady winningly. 

“We’ve got practice,” Jamie scolds. “The last thing you need is a plate full of empty carbs.”

“You’re no fun, Chubbs,” Tyler sighs, giving him puppy dog eyes. Thankfully, after years of dealing with Tyler, Jamie’s more or less immune to it.

“We have plenty of extra cookies,” the PR lady offers. “I’m sure there’ll be some left over once we finish filming.” 

Tyler actually fistpumps like the total nerd that he is. Jamie can’t help but sigh. Raddy mumbles something about _puppy love_ that Jamie pretends not to hear. 

It turns out that decorating cookies is actually pretty fucking difficult. They put the icing in these little bags, and Jamie’s hands may be good for scoring goals and punching people, but he’s really not equipped to draw faces on gingerbread people. 

At least it looks like Raddy is struggling just as much, if the constant litany of whispered Russian curse words is any indication. However, Segs’s soft hands seem to have translated over to cookie decorating just fine. Jamie can’t help but watch him, his face a mask of concentration and his tongue just peeking out the side of his mouth as he adds something to one of his cookies in white frosting.

“Get room, Chubbs,” Raddy grumbles. Jamie checks to see where the cameras are before he shoots Raddy the finger because _he_ knows that Jamie and Tyler aren’t like that. Sure, they hook up sometimes—usually after a good win—but they’re not exclusive. Not dating.

Jamie figured out pretty quickly that Tyler really didn’t do _boyfriends _.__

__And that’s okay. It’s just how Tyler is. He’s the one Tyler always comes back to, and that’s enough. It has to be._ _

__And then the lady from PR is calling time, and Jamie’s sad gingerbread people are being brought to light. Thankfully, Raddy didn’t do any better than he did, but Tyler’s actually managed to make his cookies look somewhat like players. There’s even one in a victory green sweater with a little C on its chest, which makes something in Jamie’s chest clench._ _

__“All right, I think we’ve got enough,” the lady from PR says. Jamie takes the opportunity to flee as fast as he can. Tyler follows with a handful of cookies. Raddy ends up bringing up the rear, mumbling something in Russian that probably isn’t very complimentary. Jamie’s been treated to more than one drunken diatribe about how he and Tyler should just stop pretending over the course of the last year._ _

__Jamie doesn’t ask._ _

__When they make it to the locker room, where the other guys are starting to filter in, Tyler hands him a cookie and wanders off to check in with Miro and Val and a couple of the other younger guys. Across the locker room, he can feel Bish watching him in the same way he watches a play develop up ice._ _

__It’s not a comfortable feeling. Jamie gets his gear on as quickly as possible and avoids Bish as much as possible during practice. Goalie are just fucking weird._ _

__~_ _

__It’s Jordie who gives him the idea when he calls his brother to complain that night. Jordie, who, in his own words, is supremely tired of watching Jamie and Tyler dance around each other when he doesn’t even play in Dallas anymore, _thank you very much, Chubbs._ _ _

__“So just buy him some fucking cookies then,” Jordie growls. “How are you two still this fucking ridiculous?”_ _

__Jamie resents that. He wears the C, makes 9.5 million dollars a year, and won the fucking Art Ross. He’s not ridiculous. Jordie’s beard is fucking ridiculous. He says as much._ _

__“Weak, bro,” Jordie replies, glee apparent. “Just sack up and tell him how you feel already. Put everyone out of their misery.”_ _

__Jamie hangs up without replying._ _

__It’s not that he thinks Jordie is wrong, really. He knows that this _thing_ he has with Tyler can’t go on forever, but at the same time, he’s afraid of ending it before he has to._ _

__Jamie’s not afraid of anything once he steps out on the ice, but he doesn’t know how to handle this._ _

__In the end, he thinks about taking Jordie’s advice, just buying some cookies, but that doesn’t seem personal enough. If this is all going to explode in his face, it’s not going to be because he didn’t make the effort._ _

__So he looks up gingerbread cookie recipes on the internet, and then settles on sugar cookies because holy shit, he doesn’t even own a rolling pin and he’s pretty sure he’d forget the dough in the fridge until like locker room cleanout, hopefully well into June._ _

__He makes a list of what he needs on his phone—everything from ingredients to cookie baking sheets—and tries not to think about it anymore. Jamie’s not superstitious, not like some guys, but it still feels wrong to tempt fate by wanting it too much._ _

__~_ _

__Jamie buys twice as much of everything as the recipe calls for because he wants to do a practice run. It’s not that he doesn’t think he can nail this, but practice makes perfect._ _

__He ends up having to go back to the store for more ingredients._ _

__Twice._ _

__He’s pretty sure the smell of burning cookies is permanently imbedded in his kitchen now._ _

__But in the end, he’s got two dozen cookies that aren’t burned and look more or less edible. He’s tempted to try one to make sure, but he knows better than to cheat his meal plan mid-season. Besides, showing up with 23 cookies is just weird._ _

__He leaves them on the kitchen counter when he’s done and heads into he den to play some Fortnite with the guys. He’ll go and talk to Tyler tomorrow. They’ve got a game the day after, the first of another home stand, and he can’t afford to be distracted._ _

__~_ _

__Practice is a mess. He’s ends up distracted anyway, flubbing easy passes and misreading his line at every turn. At one point, Segs corners him while they’re waiting for their turn at a drill to make sure everything’s okay. That only makes it worse because Tyler’s honest concern reminds Jamie of everything he has to lose._ _

__And then Tyler turns to Raddy and fucking grins, right before chirping the shit out him. Jamie reminds himself of everything he has to gain if Tyler says yes._ _

__He changes his mind half a dozen times before the end of practice, but Jamie’s never been a coward. Once he’s decided on something, he’s always done his very best, and this is no different._ _

__He texts Jordie that he’s going over to talk to Segs and gets back three shocked face emojis and a thumbs up emoji in response. Jamie sends back the middle finger emoji._ _

__He grabs the cookies from where they’re still sitting on his kitchen counter and sends Tyler a quick text about dropping by. Tyler sends back _doors open man_._ _

__Tyler’s out in his ridiculous backyard with his boys. Marshall and Cash are resting in the shade of the house while Gerry chases some sort of ridiculous dog toy around the yard and Tyler takes about a million photos of it for his Insta._ _

__“Hey, Segs,” he says, setting the plate down on the patio table._ _

__Segs grins at him, easy and open. “Hey, Chubbs. What’d you bring me?”_ _

__Jamie offers Tyler the plate of misshapen, slightly-too-brown cookies without a word._ _

__“Aww, Chubbs, you shouldn’t have,” Tyler teases. Jamie blushes._ _

__“Yeah, well, that’s like try number five, and I still don’t know if they’re good or not, so sorry if you end up with food poisoning,” Jamie grumbles, stung. He picks up one of the balls lying on the ground and throws it. Both Marshall and Cash watch it and then look back at him like he’s an idiot. Jamie sort of supposes that he is._ _

__“Look, I need to talk to you about something important,” Jamie says, still staring at the ball lying in the grass._ _

__“So hit me, man,” Tyler says, taking one of the cookies and biting into it. Jamie’s not sure what the face he’s making means, exactly._ _

__“You don’t have to eat them,” Jamie says. “They’re probably not any good anyway. I don’t know what I was thinking.”_ _

__“Fuck you, Chubbs,” Tyler returns. “These are my cookies now. I’ll eat as many as I want, and you can’t stop me.”_ _

__Jamie sighs. “I don’t think I can keep doing this, Segs,” is all he says._ _

__“Doing what?” Segs asks, reaching for another cookie._ _

__Jamie shrugs. “Being your fuckbuddy. Or whatever. It’s not working for me. I need more.”_ _

__Jamie gets it out without mumbling or stuttering. He sneaks a look at Segs out of the corner of his eye, but the other man doesn’t seem affected. He reaches for another cookie. “You want a boyfriend,” Segs finally says when he’s finished the cookie._ _

__“I guess, yeah,” Jamie agrees. Across the lawn, Gerry’s nosing at the ball Jamie threw earlier. _I want_ you _to be my boyfriend_ he thinks but can’t quite bring himself to say. _ _

__“If I wanted, I could be a great boyfriend,” Tyler says nonchalantly, reaching for another cookie._ _

__Jamie has no fucking clue what’s going on. “Yeah, Segs,” Jamie agrees because it’s true. Tyler would make a great boyfriend if he wanted to. He just doesn’t seem to want to._ _

__“Then I don’t see what the problem is,” Tyler says, biting his cookie in half. “It’s not like I’ve been sleeping with anyone but you for the last six months. I thought you didn’t want anything to change, but you do and I’m game.”_ _

__Jamie doesn’t know what to say. His brain has stopped, frozen like a malfunctioning computer._ _

__“Chubbs?” Tyler questions, looking over and meeting Jamie’s eyes for the first time. “You gonna say something?”_ _

__And no, Jamie can’t think of a single thing to say. He moves, stepping in between Tyler’s spread thighs, leaning down, and kissing him. His mouth tastes of subpar cookie and something uniquely Tyler._ _

__They’re interrupted by Gerry dropping the ball Jamie threw back at his feet and whining for him to throw it again._ _

__Jamie pulls back far enough that Tyler’s laugh ghosts across his cheek. “Great timing, little buddy,” he says, leaning down to pick up the ball and throw it. “You want to go inside?” he asks when Gerry goes running after it._ _

__Jamie would like nothing more. He practically drags Tyler to the patio door, stopping only when Tyler pulls back against his grip. “Wait,” Tyler laughs. “I’ve gotta grab my cookies. If we leave them out here, the boys will eat ‘em.”_ _

__Jamie doubles back and grabs the cookies only because he’s not sure what they’d do to the dogs, and the last thing he wants to do is inadvertently hurt one of Tyler’s babies._ _

__By the time Tyler gets up to let the dogs back in, it’s way past their usual dinnertime, and they’re none too happy with either of them._ _

__Jamie can’t help but feel a little bit smug about that._ _

__~_ _

__The next morning, Jamie and Tyler ride in together. It takes the rest of the guys all of thirty seconds to realize that something’s up. Although that may have something to do with the hickey Jamie left at the join of Tyler’s shoulder, where his pads will cover it during the game._ _

__After a few minutes, when the noise starts to die down, Shoresy demands, “All right, who had between Thanksgiving and Christmas?”_ _

__Jamie probably shouldn’t be surprised that there was a betting pool dedicated to when he and Segs would get together, but he still kind of is._ _

__Spezz reaches back into his locker and pulls out a sheet. “Looks like it was Darth,” he says._ _

__Several of the guys grumble about collusion and ask how much of the pot Jamie’s getting._ _

__“I didn’t even know there was a bet until like five minutes ago,” Jamie protests, but a couple of the guys still give him suspicious looks._ _

___you owe segs &i a steak dinner next time your here_ he sends to Jordie as soon as he’s got all his equipment on (minus gloves) and is ready to go. He still doesn’t know how much the pot even is, but he knows his team and there’ll be more than enough for a nice dinner._ _

__“Come on, Chubbs,” Tyler calls._ _

__Jamie gets up and follows Tyler towards the ice with a grin. He has a feeling they’re going to light it up tonight._ _

__And they do._ _

__fin._ _

**Author's Note:**

> 1\. Sadieb798, I hope you enjoyed this. I tried to work in as many of your likes as I could.  
> 2\. With the exception of Jamie, Jordie, and Tyler, I made up the nicknames I used, following hockey bro naming conventions to the best of my ability. None of them sound wrong to me, at least.  
> 3\. I completely made up the Stars schedule. I have no idea if they were home or away after American Thanksgiving, but I needed them to be home for this to work. Likewise, I have no idea if the Stars PR would actually film a cookie-decorating competition amongst their first line, but I wish they would.  
> 4\. Title is taken from "Jingle Bells."


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